Coffee Choice of Genuises

In another post I stated that coffee spread around the world to all countries, but that England preferred tea over coffee. During the 1600s that was not the case. London was buying more coffee during that time than any other city in the world. But that was robbing the tea industry so the government did what it could to shift the English people back into loving tea, not coffee and they pretty much succeeded.

Here are some interesting facts about Voltaire, Balzac, and Bach:

Voltaire is reputed to have drank at least fifty cups of coffee per day. Balzac drank coffee in excess to inspire his writings. And Johann Bach composed a cantata to ridicule those who were trying to suppress coffee use in his country.

source of this information: National Geographic

Coffee from Ethiopia

I mentioned in an earlier post how coffee came to the Americas in the late 1700s. Brewed coffee has been a favorite drink long before that. It is just that the first known instance of a "civilized" man tasting coffee was recorded in the ninth century. The traveler went into the highlands of Ethiopia and tasted it. He liked it and brought some back home.

Gradually the use of coffee as a drink of choice spread to Egypt. It took another 600 years for coffee to work its way into the lives of people in Persia and northern Africa. Then another couple hundred years later coffee worked its way into Italy. England still prefers tea but much of the rest of the world wants coffee.

Matter of fact, petroleum is the number one physical commodity traded and coffee comes in as a close second. I know I pay dearly for my beloved coffee beans and may pay even more as I experiment with beans from various plantations and countries.

Arabica Coffee Beans from Brazil

Nearly 400 years ago in 1727, coffee production came to Brazil from French Guiana. Coffee production in Brazil, since it became so profitable, also became political. Some of the more influence coffee producers were given the edge by setting quotas for coffee production.

The quality but smaller coffee producers could not make the quotas. Brazilian coffee producers, therefore, focused on quantity and let quality go since there was no profit in it anymore.

The coffee bean estates in Brazil are for the most part about 1000 acres big. A quarter of the coffee estates are less than 5000 acres, and only 4% are larger than 5000 acres. Brazil produces a quarter of the world’s coffee and 80% of that coffee is Arabica.

As recently as 1990, a new government in Brazil threw the quota demands out the window and opened up the smaller plantations thus re-opening the specialty coffee from Brazil (where buyers could order beans from a particular coffee estate)

The coffee houses in the United States are now taking a second look at the specialty coffee and starting to see real quality again. How coffee beans are processed is extremely important to the flavor of brewed coffee. I will go into more detail on processing later on.

It almost counts more toward flavor and quality than location. Location ,which means climate and soil conditions, does lend it own taste to flavor and is important but it is a subtle influence.

Brazil has a number of distinct growing regions that produce coffee better than the rest and those coffee beans bring in more profit. Each of these areas is as large as a small country and coffee houses probably treat them as such.

Men do Forums, Women do Coffee Shops

My husband is a member of dozens of project car and classic car forums. I have joined a few forums (backyard chickens, gardening) but I think forums are difficult to maneuver around in.

I'm not sure I can pull this off but this blog is a coffee shop where I will talk a lot about coffee because I love coffee, but in the comments I'm hoping to hear from my visitors and want to experiment with discussions using the comments feature.

If you have a blog or website, please feel free to leave your URL in comments but also talk to me a little.

Blue Mountain Coffee

What is Blue Mountain Coffee

Blue mountain coffee is grown on Jamaica on the Blue Mountain range. These coffee beans taste extra good because of the cool misty conditions and heavy rainfall in the mountains.

I have not tasted Blue Mountain coffee yet but I look forward to the day when I can. I hear it is rich and smooth and once you have had blue mountain coffee, you can't go back to any other brand.

Not a habit I can afford since blue mountain coffee beans cost about $25 a pound. Oh, but I'd love to taste that coffee just once.

Coffee Makers Are Not Coffee Machines

Coffee makers are people, not coffee machines. I am a coffee maker. I do not even consider I'm having coffee unless I use my coffee grinder on whole coffee beans and make it strong and rich.

I like flavored coffee as long as it still tastes like coffee after I pour in heavy whipping cream. No, I'm not fat but I am not skin and bone either. My greatest pleasure in life at this time is working on my blogs with a freshly brewed pot of coffee.

The cup of coffee you see to the left looks just like my favorite coffee cup. I call it my coffee shop coffee cup. It came from an old coffee shop I used to frequent.

Favorite Coffee Cups

The Coffee Cup Cafe Opens on Winter Solstice

Just a moment while go make a fresh pot of strong hazelnut coffee.

Okay, now I'm back with a lovely hot cup of coffee. Coffee is one of the most important things I look forward to -- good strong fresh coffee only.

I use just enough heavy whipping cream to turn the coffee a dark golden color. I fresh grind all my coffee beans just before I make a pot of coffee.

I have French Roast coffee beans, Hazelnut coffee beans, Colombian coffee beans, and Hazelnut Cream coffee beans which is definitely not the same as Hazelnut. It's my least favorite of all the ones I mentioned.

Welcome to the Coffee Cup Cafe

What is the most popular drug in America right now? Caffeine. The most pleasant way to get caffeine for me is strong, fresh ground, hazelnut coffee each morning. Wonder why you feel more awake after a couple cups of coffee? Caffeine interfers with adenosine. Adenosine is a natural chemical in our bodies that basically act as a natural sleeping pill.

The instant we are born into the world, we create a natural circadian rhythm (also known as our biorhythm) that stays with us throughout life. If our rhythm is in the low phase, we usually have to drink more coffee to wake up.